Nearly every week I get emails with questions regarding the ultra-portable Roland Octapad SPD-30 setup that I use. So, I have put together the following instructions to show you how I have mounted the SPD-30 with hi-hat and cymbal pads to help you form ideas for your own setups.

SPD-30 Mounting Directions:

If you already have the following mounting plate:

http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.php?ProductId=216

…you can use the Pearl UX-80s to mount the Octapad. The UX-80s fit perfectly inside one of my existing cymbal stands. You just remove the top tier from the existing cymbal stand and the UX-80s should fit in its place. This saves you from having to buy the over-priced Roland stand:

http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.php?ProductId=767

The Roland stand comes with the mounting plate though, so you may want to figure out which is best for you.

For a snare pad I use a Roland PD-85:

http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.php?ProductId=661

I mount the PD-85 underneath the Octapad with this Gibraltar tom mount:

http://www.promusicaustralia.com/drum/GIBImages/sc_sllrm.jpg

Then, I mounted the CY-5(hi-hat) and/or CY-8(crash) using all-purpose multi clamps mounted onto to the top section of a spare cymbal stand I had lying around.

The hi-hat controller is the FD-8:
http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.php?ProductId=624&ParentId=101

The bass drum trigger is the KD-7:
http://www.rolandcorp.com.au/products/productdetails.aspx?p=195

This entire setup fits inside a Protection Racket 28″ Hardware bag. I put high density foam on the bottom of the bag. The SPD-30 goes in first, face-down with the mount sticking up. Then, another piece of foam goes on top of the SPD-30 with a small cutout in the centre to let the mount poke through. This allows for the hardware and pads to go on top without damaging the SPD-30.

As I have stated before, the SPD-30 acoustic drum sounds leave a lot to be desired, so you may want to look into picking up a drum sampling plugin such as Toontrack’s Superior Drummer 2.0. It will make your SPD-30 sound better than the $8000 Roland TD-20.

I should also mention that since writing these instructions, I have removed the hi-hat and cymbal pads from my setup. I have found that I like to play the Octapad without them, and prefer having less to setup. I find it easier to play with the ‘less is more’ concept. Either way, I hope this helps you in your quest for an ultra-portable electronic setup.

Coming to you straight out of Knoxville, the Roll It Ups Stick Bag is an ultra-portable alternative to the standard drumstick bags you see at your local music shop. The cool thing is, they are all handmade by Flea Puckett in Knoxville, TN and easily available at etsy.com, which is a great site for finding handmade items that you won’t find in a mega-retail shop.

This beautifully designed bag fits on to your floor tom by tying the strings to the tension rods. The fact that it is so lightweight means it won’t weigh down on a floor tom that is mounted to a stand. I have stripped tom mounts by hanging heavy stick bags on them, not the best thing to happen in the middle of a gig! The Roll It Ups might be the lightest stick bag I have ever used.

I love the fact that these are handmade. I get the feeling that stick bags were made like this in the not too distant past which is great for us throw backs! Not only that, but the design is minimal. Each bag holds 8 pairs of whatever you choose… Sticks, brushes, rutes/hotrods, or mallets all fit snugly in each pocket. There is also a 12x12cm pouch in the middle of the bag to hold small accessories like a drum key and a small metronome.

Once you are finished with a gig, you just roll the whole thing up, as its name suggests, wrap the tie around the bag, and drop it in your trap case. Too easy.

If you are interested in getting the Roll It Ups, there are plenty of different colors and styles to choose from, and at $27, I am not sure you will get a better deal on a handmade drum accessory:

fleapuckett.etsy.com

Mosiac weaves through quite a few musical styles and feels, but somehow it is masterfully all rooted in jazz. From the soulful opening track “Transformation”, featuring Nona Hendryx, to the burning chops in “Insomniac”. You are treated to a buffet of jazz, funk, blues, soul ballads, and latin grooves. There’s even a jazz nod to the Beatles, taking “Michelle” to another level. Some of the standout tracks for me are “I Got Lost In His Arms” for its wide-open, pure groove, “Soul Talk” is the baddest tune ever, and “Crayola”, which sounds like its name, with stretching, bouncing vocals, and fantastic solos.

Terri Lyne Carrington “Mosaic Project”

Mosaic Project is great music, played by stellar musicians, wrapped up in a beautifully recorded production.

DJ’s do it. Keyboardists have been doing it for a while now. Guitarists have joined the parade. And now drummers have joined the ranks of this revolutionary instrument… The Laptop. I can’t think of too many shows that I have been to lately where you didn’t see a shiny MacBook Pro as part of the stage landscape. Laptops have become standard gear.

Now enter the Roland Octapad SPD-30 which is Roland’s effort to return to the retro 80′s Octapad. It’s beefed up of course, offering a plethora of sounds, four dual-trigger inputs with a hi-hat controller input, and USB MIDI(finally). A quick review: feels great to play, but the sounds are pretty average. I was shocked to hear just how average the drum kits were. I’ll put it to you this way… I would not use them live. The percussion sounds are a bit better though, if that is what you are after. I wasn’t after its sounds.

I was looking to create a highly portable electronic kit that I could pair with my latest obsession… Toontrack’s Superior Drummer 2.0. You probably have come across this and/or other drum samplers like FXpansion’s BFD. I choose Superior Drummer after watching New York session drummer Nir Z ripping a funk tune in one of the Toontrack product videos. I was amazed at Nir Z’s playing and how fat the drums sounded. Beautifully recorded kits and cymbals captured by top producers and players in top New York, London and Nashville studios. The sound libraries for Superior Drummer 2.0 clearly bury anything I have heard. It makes Roland’s flagship TD-20 sound like a $7000 toy. I am actually surprised Roland is still charging that much for such a sub-standard sounding sound drum module. These new drum samplers/plugins have left them in the dust… years ago.

Now, when paired with Superior Drummer, the SPD-30 feels and sounds as good as you are going to get electronically. So much so that I will be using this rig for rehearsals and corporate gigs. And, the whole thing packs up into one case to boot! In the days of the laptop musician, I think it’s fantastic that a drummer doesn’t need to dump $3000-$7000 on an electronic kit to sound good. If you have a laptop, pick up a cheaper Roland, Alesis, Hart Dynamics, or Yamaha electronic kit, make sure it feels good, has hi-hat variable pedal control, add Superior Drummer via USB/MIDI, and you are killin’ it!